Barley is a great value to corn

[Palouser]

Barley is 75% the cost of corn ($8.90 bu corn?) out here in the PNW for about the same feed value (I won't argue the pros and cons). If I were feeding very far north I'd check to see what the logistics would be to get Canadian barley. Don't recall how much they planted or whether oilseeds like Canola are competing for them. Barley is not a CWB controlled grain.

We don't grow that much out here anymore. I have one field and hoping for 2 tns/ac (probably won't make it) - as an alternative to very late planted spring wheat.

[fringeacres]

In the mid atlantic we can grow 80-120 bu barley and an ethanol plant was going to use it for fuel. They were pricing it at 80% corn but went out of business before start up. Poultry is now pricing it at 62.5% july corn and we still like it for early june double crop beans which act like full season. What other values are people pricing barley and are our numbers just made up for their prifit margins. By the way great deal on an brand new ethanol plant outside of richmond, va. Any body feeling lucky?

[nwobcw]

  Would barley work in nothern Ohio?

[fringeacres]

It is very sensitive to freeze after heading. If you had a gradual warm up maybe. But beans would need to beshort season. I do not know about spring barley which would work but would be single crop.

[BA Deere]

The way it sounds, access to credit was was the issue of the Richmond E plant`s troubles

http://www2.nelsoncountytimes.com/business/2011/jul/12/tdbiz01-tight-credit-still-major-concern-for-...  The government says they want to create jobs, but when great projects like this come around they let it dry on the vine.  There`s a proposed bio-diesel that has been a open field with only a sign "Another project by XXXX Construction company" for 3 years now.  Seems to me, if we are going to buy into this Keynsian idea of government creating jobs, we should at least follow through with these projects.  On subsituting alternative crops for corn. In `95 or 6 I had alot of hogs and knew corn would be high and I`d be out in the summer, so I raised sucotash, wheat/barley/oats in place of my soybean crop, harvested in July.  Worked great all the way around and bypassed that "high priced $5 corn".    

[nwobcw]

  We don't have freezes after wheat heads out.  Is barley similar, but ripen sooner than winter wheat.  Wheat usually comes off just a little bit too late to plant beans behind it.

[Jed Stivers]

Been univ work in W TN with it that looks promising for planting in the fall and it comes off 2 weeks before wheat so beans can go earlier. I was looking yesterday for seed, want to plant it so I can keep the seed for cover crop and also feed it. The TN work is focusing on production for the St. Louis brewery's.

[fringeacres]

We have grown it fo thirty years+.it heads about 1spring week to 10get days earlier and ripens 2 weeks earlier. The balance is fall yillering vs. Too early jointing. We split our rotation half corn,half small grain which is usually 40/60 barley wheat followed by d/c beans. It also fulfills chesapeake bay winter cover req

[fringeacres]

Phone typing sucks sorry

[Palouser]

I was thinking of two row spring barley. It is a much shorter season crop than spring wheat. Winter barley is seldom grown out here where we can grow winter wheat, but 3 tons/acre for it is not unusual, and it is early also. Much earlier than winter wheat. I've never had any seasonal issues with except freeze out of winter barley if it is not covered with snow in cold weather. For those who can't quite make it with DC winter wheat, barley might give enough time. Easy to harvest compared to wheat.

Keep in mind my experience is in the West where humidity is much lower when it warms up. Chickens out here were fed barley and had a less yellow fat and appearance - more white skin and pink meat - due to not using corn much. Southern fryers looked a bit dingy to us for years due to the difference.